Calendar of Events
December 2019
- Come From Away
- KURIOS by Cirque du Soleil
- Tennyson King “Back to the Ocean” Tour
- 34th Woodford Folk Festival
January 2020
- Basia Bulat tour
- Belle Miners “Parachute” Tour
- Catherine MacLellan tour
- Come From Away
- 38th Cygnet Folk Festival
- Danielle Todd at Tamworth Country Festival
- Harry Manx tour
- Jeremy Dutcher tour
- KURIOS by Cirque du Soleil
- Mo Kenney “Ahead of Myself” Tour
- Mona Foma Festival
- Orville Peck Tour
- Sydney Festival
- Tequila Mockingbird Orchestra Tour
- The East Pointers tour
- 34th Woodford Folk Festival
February 2020
- An Evening With Michael Bublé
- Come From Away
- In Conversation with Margaret Atwood
- KURIOS by Cirque du Soleil
- Nannup Music Festival
- Port Fairy Folk Festival
- Rufus Wainwright tour
- Tequila Mockingbird Orchestra Tour
- The East Pointers Tour
- The New Pornographers Tour
March 2020
- Biennale of Sydney
- Buffy Sainte-Marie Tour
- KURIOS by Cirque du Soleil
- The East Pointers Tour
April 2020
- Biennale of Sydney
- Byron Bay Bluesfest
- KURIOS by Cirque du Soleil
- The East Pointers Tour
- Women of the World Festival (WOW)
Music Events
An Evening With Michael Bublé An Evening With Michael Bublé
Brisbane, QLD (Feb 4-5) | Sydney, NSW (Feb 7-8) | Adelaide, SA (Feb 13-15) | Melbourne, VIC (Feb 15-18) | Perth, WA (Feb 21)
Tickets available here.
After 5 sold out world tours, he’s back! Global superstar Michael Bublé will return in February 2020 with a 36-piece orchestra to thrill Australian audiences on his five-city tour taking in Brisbane, Sydney, Adelaide, Melbourne and Perth.
Basia Bulat Tour
Woodford, QLD (Dec 29-Jan 1) | Sydney, NSW (Jan 2-3) | Melbourne, VIC (Jan 4-5)
Tickets available here.
Over the course of five albuns, Juno nominee Basia Bulat has brought together an intrinsic contemporary sound with a love of classic folk, country and R&B songwriting. She is an accomplished multi-instrumentalist, recording and performing on electric guitar, piano, autoharp, ukulele, bass and charango.
Belle Miners “Parachute” Tour
Dates across TAS, VIC, NSW, WA all of January. Check their website for dates and ticket info.
The Belle Miners’ music resonates with the wild places they come from and the wild places they travel. The band was formed in Australia and named after the inspired by the rhythmical intonation of Bell Miners in the Australian bush.
Buffy Sainte-Marie
Sydney, NSW (Apr 8); Melbourne, VIC (Apr 9-10); Byron Bay, NSW (Apr 10-12); Edge Hill, QLD (Apr 15)
Tickets available here.
Buffy Sainte-Marie is the world’s foremost First Nations Artist. This Academy Award-winning songwriter and performer is touring constantly but is also renowned as a trail-blazer, an educator, an innovative artist, a pacifist, a tireless activist focussing on the Indigenous peoples of the Americas and disruptor of the status quo.
Catherin MacLellan Tour
Dates across QLD, NSW, VIC, TAS, until Jan 14. Check her website for dates and ticket info.
One of Canada’s finest and favourite folk singer-songwriters, Catherine has released a series of remarkable, creative albums, culminating in the Juno Award-winning The Raven’s Sun. Based in rural Prince Edward Island, this multi-award-winning artist has carved out her own career path.
Danielle Todd at Tamworth Country Festival
Tamworth, NSW (Jan 17-26)
Tickets available here.
Danielle Todd has been busy making a name for herself within the Canadian country industry. This talented artist has recently released a single called “Back Burner” and an accompanying music video.
Harry Manx Tour
Woodford, QLD (Dec 28) | Bowen Hills, QLD (Jan 4) | Katoomba, NSW (Jan 8)
Tickets available here.
“Mysticssippi” blues man Harry Manx has been called an “essential link” between the music of East and West, creating musical short stories that wed the tradition of the Blues with the depth of classical Indian ragas. He has created a unique sound that is hard to forget and deliciously addictive to listen to.
Jeremy Dutcher Tour
Woodford, QLD (Dec 30) | Killara, NSW (Jan 15) | Sydney, NSW (Jan 17) | Launceston, TAS (Jan 18-19)
Tickets available here.
Performer, composer, activist, musicologist — these roles are all infused into his art and way of life. His music, too, transcends boundaries: unapologetically playful in its incorporation of classical influences, full of reverence for the traditional songs of his home, and teeming with the urgency of modern-day struggles of resistance.
Mo Kenney “Ahead of Myself” Tour
Dates across TAS, VIC, NSW until Jan 19. Check her website for dates and ticket info.
In her home of Nova Scotia, Canada, Mo Kenney is a big deal packing out 1000 capacity rooms with her effortless folk-pop songwriting that has won her a bag of awards most recently solo and band recording of the year at the 2018 Nova Scotia Awards.
Orville Peck Tour
Sydney, NSW (Jan 10-20) | Fortitude Valley, QLD (Jan 14) | Launceston, TAS (Jan 18)
Tickets available here.
Combining the lulling ambiance of shoegaze with the iconic melodies and vocal prowess of classic American outlaw country music, Orville Peck croons about love and loss from the badlands of North America.
Rufus Wainwright Tour
Perth, WA (Feb 21) | Hobart, TAS (Feb 24)
Tickets available here.
Praised by the New York Times for his “genuine originality,” Rufus Wainwright has established himself as one of the great male vocalists and songwriters of his generation. The New York-born, Montreal-raised singer songwriter has released seven studio albums, three DVDs, and three live albums.
Tennyson King “Back To The Ocean” Tour
Dates across NSW and QLD until Dec 14. Check his website for dates and ticket info.
Tennyson King is a mesmerizing live performer playing music that has the emotional sweetness of the blues with a rock and roll sensibility.
The Tequila Mockingbird Orchestra Tour
Dates across TAS, NSW, ACT, VIC all of January and February. Check their website for dates and ticket info.
From ballads and singalongs to high-energy dance parties, Western Canada’s The Tequila Mockingbird Orchestra have spent years telling their stories with guitars and violins, with accordions and bass, with melodies and music makers gleaned from their wanderings.
The East Pointers Tour
Dates across QLD, VIC, NSW, WA, TAS, SA until April 19. Check their website for dates and ticket info.
Redefining modern folk with Billboard-worthy pop hooks, deep acoustic groove, and three-part harmonies, JUNO award winning Canadian trio The East Pointers capture the furious energy of their live shows and push the boundaries of East Coast folk while lighting a path for a new generation of music lovers.
The New Pornographers Tour
Melbourne, VIC (Feb 30-21) | Perth, WA (Feb 23) | Brisbane, QLD (Feb 25) | Sydney, NSW (Feb 26) | Canberra, ACT (Feb 28) | Adelaide, SA (Mar 1)
Tickets available here.
Canadian supergroup The New Pornographers are making their long awaited to return to Australia next year, playing shows all across the country. The band will be here in support of their most recent album In The Morse Code of Brake Lights, which dropped in September this year.
Literary Events
In Conversation With Margaret Atwood
Sydney, NSW (Feb 16-17) | Canberra, ACT (Feb 19) | Brisbane, QLD (Feb 22) | Melbourne, VIC (Feb 23) | Hobart, TAS (Feb 24) | Perth, TAS (Mar 1)
Tickets available here.
In Conversation with Margaret Atwood is an Australian and New Zealand premiere literary event spanning the breadth of Atwood’s remarkable career, her diverse range of works and why, in the Booker Award winning The Testaments, she has returned to her seminal story, 34 years later.
Theatre/Performing Arts Events
Come From Away
Melbourne, VIC
Performances until February 2020. Tickets available here.
This Broadway hit musical tells the remarkable true story of 7,000 stranded passengers in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, and the small town in Newfoundland, Canada that welcomed them. Come and enjoy the hope and humanity of this show that has captured the hearts of audiences around the world.
KURIOS by Cirque du Soleil
Sydney, NSW (Oct 2-Dec 12) | Brisbane, QLD (Jan 10-Feb 23) | Melbourne, VIC (Mar 12-April 26) | Adelaide, SA (May 29-June 7) | Perth, WA (July 15-Aug 2)
Tickets available here.
The internationally renowned circus troupe known for its breathtaking spectaculars, Cirque du Soleil will head to Australia with “Kurios – Cabinet of Curiosities”. Don’t miss this spectacular family activity!
Major Festivals
34th Woodford Folk Festival
Woodford, QLD (Dec 27-Jan 1)
Tickets available here.
For 6 days and 6 nights every year, Woodfordia is transformed into a village that hosts over 25,000 daily patrons, performers, stallholders, volunteers and organisers. The programme features concerts, dances, writers’ panels, talks, and much more.
Canadian artists in the 2020 programme: Catherine MacLellan (folk), The East Pointers (folk), Basia Bulat (Pop), Jeremy Dutcher (classical), Harry Manx (blues), Shirley Gnome (cabaret)
38th Cygnet Folk Festival
Cygnet, TAS (Jan 10-12)
Tickets available here.
The Cygnet Folk Festival is a showcase of eclectic music genres featuring both local and international talent, dance, poetry, masterclasses, film, kids’ entertainment, food, wine, art and local handicrafts all set in the breathtaking scenery of Tasmania’s Huon Valley.
Canadian artists in the 2020 programme: Belle Miners (folk); The Tequila Mockingbird Orchestra (blues/folk); Mo Kenney (folk-pop); Catherine MacLellan (folk/roots)
Biennale of Sydney
Sydney, NSW (Mar 14-June 8)
More information available here.
Since its inception in 1973, the Biennale of Sydney has showcased the work of nearly 1,800 artists from more than 100 countries and holds an important place on both the national and international stage.
Canadian artists in the 2020 programme: Randy Lee Cutler; Jes Fan; Taqralik Partridge; Adrian Stimson; Elle Máijá Tailfeathers
Mona Foma Festival
Launceston, TAS (Jan 17-19)
Tickets available here.
Mona Foma is back in Launceston for 2019 – with events across 8 days, Launceston will be bursting with arts, music and endless experiences.
Canadian artists in the 2020 programme: Jeremy Dutcher (classical); Ora Clementi (electronic); crys cole (electronic); Tim Hecker (electronic); Orville Peck (country)
Nannup Music Festival
Nannup, SA (Feb 28-Mar 2)
Tickets available here.
The festival that was set up with a tiny budget and a great deal of volunteer help, has grown to be one of the most appreciated events in Australia’s South West and a much anticipated date on Australia’s music calendar.
Canadian artists in the 2020 programme: The East Pointers (folk-pop); Yoga Loves Music (yoga and music); Belle Miners (folk)
Port Fairy Folk Festival
Port Fairy, VIC (Mar 6-9)
Tickets available here.
The Port Fairy Folk Festival is a popular annual four-day music festival based in the historic fishing village of Port Fairy in Victoria, Australia. At first concentrating on Irish traditional music and culture, the focus has subsequently broadened to include a diverse range of styles and influences, from Blues/Roots to World Music.
Canadian artists in the 2020 programme: Còig (traditional); The East Pointers (folk-pop); The Small Glories (roots); The Burning Hell
Sydney Festival
Sydney, NSW (Jan 8-26)
Tickets available here.
Every January, Sydney Festival starts the new year with a bang, transforming the city with a bold cultural celebration based on critical ideas and cutting-edge art and performance. Sydney Festival’s audacious contemporary programming positions it at the forefront of arts practice in Australia and up there as one of the most wonderful festivals in the world.
Canadian artists in the 2020 programme: Orville Peck (country); Jeremy Dutcher (classical); Frontera by Dana Gingras (dance); Forget Me Not by Ronnie Burkett (marionette); Cheryl L’Hirondelle (media arts); Marianne Nicols (artist/activist)
Women of the World Festival (WOW)
Brisbane, QLD (Apr 6-8)
More information and tickets available here.
Women of the World, is a global force supporting women and girls, action and change. Aimed at girls, boys, women and men, WOW celebrates women’s and girls’ achievements and takes a frank look at the lives of women and girls and the obstacles that prevent them from reaching their full potential. More than one million participants have been involved to date, making WOW one of the biggest movements of women and girls in the world. Vicki Saunders (Founder, SheEO) will be speaking at the festival.
